10 Oil Firms Sued as 4 Arrest Warrants Issued in Counterfeit Fuel Case

Financial Prosecutor Ali Ibrahim on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against ten oil companies on charges of embezzling public funds and illicit enrichment, the state-run National News Agency said.

“He referred the files to Beirut's acting examining magistrate Charbel Bou Samra,” the agency added.

Mount Lebanon First Examining Magistrate Nicolas Mansour meanwhile issued arrest warrants against the representative of the Algerian firm Sonatrach, the director of the oil control company and two employees of the PST firm after a four-hour interrogation session.

He will later interrogate the head of the oil facilities department Sarkis Hleis, the owner of the ZR Energie firm Teddy Rahme, its CEO Ibrahim al-Zouk and director of the bids department George al-Saneh.

On Wednesday Mansour is scheduled to interrogate former energy ministers Mohammed Fneish and Nada Bustani, Electricite du Liban director general Kamal al-Hayek and the engineer Yahya Mawloud.

He will on Thursday question Energy Ministry director general Aurore Feghali and the head of the labs department at the oil facilities unit Dima Haidar.

The Energy Ministry had accused Sonatrach of delivering a counterfeit fuel shipment to EDL on March 25.